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Drug compliance of children and adolescents with epilepsy
1Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz, Fars 71937-11351, Iran. asadipoa@sums.ac.ir
Insights
Drug compliance in pediatric epilepsy is satisfactory in over 70% of cases. Factors like maternal age and family size influence adherence, highlighting the need for targeted education and simplified treatment regimens.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Pharmacology
- Public Health
Background:
- Drug compliance is crucial for managing epilepsy in children and adolescents.
- Understanding factors influencing adherence is vital for effective treatment outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the drug compliance rate in families with children/adolescents suffering from epilepsy.
- To identify factors associated with drug compliance in this population.
Main Methods:
- A six-month study involving interviews with 181 pediatric epilepsy patients and their families at Motahary Clinic, Shiraz.
- Data collected on patient demographics, epilepsy characteristics, and family factors.
Main Results:
- Satisfactory drug compliance was observed in 72.4% of patients.
- Maternal age, family history of epilepsy, and family size significantly impacted compliance.
- Phenobarbital use was associated with higher compliance rates.
- Etiology, therapy type, disease duration, patient age, comorbidities, parental smoking, education, and location did not significantly affect compliance.
Conclusions:
- Nearly three-fourths of pediatric epilepsy patients demonstrated satisfactory drug compliance.
- Noncompliance was not significantly linked to epilepsy cause, disease duration, socio-economic status, or polytherapy.
- Enhanced medication education, simplified treatment regimens, and smaller family sizes, particularly with younger mothers, may improve compliance.
Background:
Compliance behavior depends on the specific clinical situation, the nature of the illness, and the treatment program. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of drug compliance in families caring for a child or adolescent with epilepsy and to describe some associated factors.
Methods:
All the patients with epilepsy under 18 years of age who were attending the Motahary Clinic of Shiraz for a six-month period and their families were interviewed.
Results:
The total number of participants was 181 patients. Drug compliance was satisfactory in 72.4% of the patients. Etiology of epilepsy, mono-therapy versus poly-therapy, duration of the disease, age of the patient, accompanying disease, parental smoking, parental education and living in urban versus rural areas did not significantly influence the drug compliance but maternal age was significantly higher in patients with poor compliance. Also, patients with positive family history of epilepsy had more noncompliance. Moreover, family size had a significant effect on drug compliance. Finally, patients using phenobarbital were more complaint than other patients.
Conclusions:
In this study, drug compliance was satisfactory in almost three-fourths of the patients with epilepsy. There was no significant association between noncompliance and the cause of epilepsy, duration of the disease, socio-economic status (parental smoking, living place, education) and number of drugs used to treat the illness. But paying attention to medication education for patients and parents, decreasing the complexity of the treatment regimen and younger possibly more motivated mothers in a small family, increased the drug compliance.
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